Watch-protector.



Patented luly 8, |902.

A. K N E V Dn E H C A. .L u 3 2.1 4 0 l nw N WATCH PRUTECTR.

(Application led Oct. 3, 1901.;

(No Model.)

110,, [lum umn- UNTTED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FRANK A. CHERVENKA, OF MlLVAUKEE, VISCONSIN.

WATCH-PROTECTOR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 704,236, dated July 8, 1902.

Application tiled October 3,

To all w/tom/ t may concern.-

Beit known that I, FRANK A. CHERvENxA, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Milwaukee, in the county of Milwaukee and State of Visconsin, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Watch- Protectors; and l do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof.

My invention relates to devices for protect-- ing watches while being carried in the pockets of the wearers; and it consists in certain peculiarities ofconstruction and combination of parts, as will be fully explained hereinafter in connection with the accompanying drawings and subsequently claimed.

ln the said drawings, Figure lis avertical sectional view of my device shown within a pocket and with a watch in place therein, said watch being shown partly broken away to better illustrate details of construction of the protector, which would otherwise be concealed. Fig. 2 is atransverse sectional view of the protector within the pocket, taken on the planes indicated by the line 2 2 in Fig. l, the watch being removed in this view. Fig. 3 is a perspective view of one member of the protector detached.

It has frequently happened, particularly in crowded gatherings at fairs, picnics, and in halls,that thieves and pickpockets have stolen watches from off their wearers by pulling the watches from their owners pockets, often without detection at the time, and my present invention is designed to obviate this and. protect the owners of said watches from theft, while at the same time permitting the watch to be freely withdrawn from its protectingcase by the wearer.

Referring to the drawings, a Z) represent the opposed walls of the watch-pocket, formed in the garment of the wearer in the usual way and without any change, save that provision is had for the securing` within said pocket of the protector to be presently described, the preferred method consisting in forming eyelets through one wall of said pocket for the reception of the shanks of screws c c, which engage with suitable screw-threaded bores d in the said protector, and thus clamp the adjacent wall of the pocket between the protector and the heads of the screws c, said 1901. Serial No. 77,345. (No model.)

heads being large and flat, so as to prevent their being drawn through said eyelets in the pocket-wall.

The protector consists, primarily, of two members e andf, each being a curved shell adapted to receive and embrace Within its grooved or hollow inner surface part of the watch g, as best indicated in Fig. l, the two members efbeing hinged together at their lower ends, the part e having there two projecting extensions h 71 and the partf having two corresponding inwardly-offsetted pro- -jecting extensions it', said extensions having registering holes jj therethrough, whereby the said parts are pivotally united by the bolts or rivets 7o lo. The described extensions h t' project from the upper edges of the shells e f, below which is located a spring m of sufficient strength to always tend to force the free upper ends n 0 of said shells toward each other. This spring may be attached and kept in place in any desired manner, the preferred means herein illustrated consisting of forming opposing pinsp q on the lower ends of the said shells e f below the plane of the described extensions 7L t, each pin receiving one end of the stiff spiral spring m illustrated.`

The operation of my invention will be readily understood from the foregoing description of its preferred construction, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings. W'hen the described hinged protector has been dropped within the watch-pocket, it is firmly secured in place therein, as by the described screws c c, extending through eyelets in one of the pocket-walls, and the shells of the protector being made somewhat larger than the watch for which they are designed the latter' can be readily/pushed down to place, as illustrated in Fig. l, the screws c c having the necessary play to permit the swinging of the shells on their pivots la on account of the yielding nature of the flexible pocket material b, the upper ends n 0 of the shells e f being preferably formed so as to slightly dare outwardly, as shown in said gure, so as to facilitate the yield of the shells on their pivots 7c k when the watch g is thrust vertically downward, the spring m at once forcing said upper ends again toward each other as the greatest diameter of thewatch is pushed down- IOO ward past said upper ends of the shells. In this position the watch can be readily withdrawn bya direct upward pull of the wearer; but the said shells will prevent the ready withdrawal of the watch by a lateral pull from a person standing in front or at the side of the wearer, and hence the watch could not be readily withdrawn by such person nor without the eiort at abstraction being brought to the wearers notice.

The shells ef may be made of any suitable metalsuch as brass, gold, silver, or alloyand being smooth on their grooved interior surfaces will not scratch or injure the case of the watch.

A further advantage of this device lies in the fact that it serves as a protection against the watch and its case being broken or injured by the wearer bearing against an unyielding surface or receiving a blow or sudden contact with a hard body at this point.

Another advantage of my device is that it eectually prevents the accidental loss of the watch from the pocket of the wearer.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

l. A watch-protector, comprising a pair of yielding interiorly-grooved curved shells, pivotally connected at their lower ends, in coinbination with a watch-pocket of exible yielding material, and screws passing through one wall of said pocket into said shells for directly securing the same to the watch-pocket of the wearer.

2. A watch-protector, comprising a pair of interiorlygrooved curved shells, pivotally connected at their lower end, in combination with a spring for normally forcing the upper ends of said shells toward each other, and a pair of screws, engaging bores in said shells adjacentto their pivotal connection, for securing said protector to a watch-pocket.

`3. A watch-protector, comprising a pair of interiorly-grooved curved shells, formed with inwardly-projectingupper extensions at their lower ends; pivots centrally uniting said projections; opposing pins projecting inwardly from said lower ends of the shells, below the plane of said extensions and above the lowest plane of the shells; a spiral spring having its opposite ends in engagement with said pins; and screws connected to said shells for securing the same to a watch-pocket.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto set my hand, at Milwaukee, in the county of Milwaukee and State of Wiscousin, in the presence of two witnesses.

FRANK A. CHERVENKA.

Witnesses:

H. G. UNDERWOOD, B. C. RoLoFF. 

